Revise Tests and Surveys Settings in copied Canvas Quizzes.
Some quiz settings from Blackboard’s Tests and Surveys can be imported to Canvas’s Classic Quizzes while other settings need to be edited before publishing a quiz. There are also several feedback settings and layout preferences that cannot be used in Canvas due to a difference of features between Blackboard and Canvas.
The settings described on this page are categorized according to how they appear in Blackboard's Test Options. Open the link below for one of the categories of settings to find a list of settings that either require editing or cannot be used in Canvas Quizzes. The section for each setting describes potential issues and recommendations for moving forward.
Tip: You can use the information in this article as you work through Step 3: Revise in the Checklist for Reusing Content from Blackboard. Go back to the checklist for additional steps.
WARNING: We strongly recommend reviewing all assessment questions and settings to see if you need to make adjustments. A comprehensive review of all assessment settings should be completed prior to publishing.
Go to Quizzes.
Select Quizzes from the Course Navigation Menu.
Get started with Canvas Quizzes.
The Canvas Quizzes tool includes options to create quizzes as either Classic Quizzes or New Quizzes. Assessments copied from Blackboard are Classic Quizzes. A rocketship icon displays to the left of each quiz title, as shown in the screenshot above.
Some of the recommendations for editing settings in the sections below mention using features of New Quizzes. To do this, migrate the quizzes that include those settings by following the steps in How do I migrate a Canvas quiz to New Quizzes? (opens new window).
For basic information about Canvas quiz settings, refer to What options can I set in a Quiz? (opens new tab)
Tip: For links to documentation describing the differences between Classic and New Quizzes, see the New Quizzes Transition Toolkit (opens new window).
Select a quiz.
Select the name of the quiz to edit.
Select Edit.
Select the Edit button near the upper-right corner of the page.
View the quiz's Details.
You will be taken to the Details tab for the quiz, where you can find the migrated quiz's settings.
If your Blackboard test included a test or link description, the content was migrated to a separate page in Canvas.
Canvas does not provide the option to show/hide instructions to students or open the test in a new window, so these settings will not be included in the Canvas quiz.
Any Test Description will appear under Quiz Instructions. Unlike in Blackboard, Canvas Quiz Instructions display after students start the quiz and at the top of every quiz page. Edit or delete the instructions if needed.
Recommendation 1: Present instructions on a page where you link the quiz.
If you would like students to view the instructions before they start the quiz, include all the instructions on a page and link the quiz under the instructions as follows:
- Create a page (opens new window) and add the instructions to the page.
- Link to the quiz using the Rich Content Editor (opens new window).
Note: If you would like the quiz to be a prerequisite for students to access other activities in a module, you will need to link the page of instructions and the quiz directly on the module instead of linking the quiz on a page. For steps, see How do I add course content as module items? (opens new window). For steps to enable requirements, see How do I add requirements to a module? (opens new window).
Recommendation 2: Include instructions inside the quiz as Text (No question).
If you would like students to read the instructions after they start the quiz and your quiz has the setting Show one question at a time, we recommend adding the instructions as Text (no question) so they do not appear on every question's page.
You can do this by following the steps in How do I create a Text (no question) quiz question? (opens new window).
There is no equivalent in Canvas to Blackboard's Open test in new window.
If you checked Yes to Make available to students in Blackboard, the test will migrate as Published in Canvas.
There is no equivalent in Canvas to Blackboard's Add a new announcement for this test.
Recommendation: Post a new announcement.
If you would like to notify students of an upcoming quiz, follow the steps to add an announcement (opens new window).
If you enabled Multiple Attempts in Blackboard, the migrated Canvas quiz will have Allow Multiple Attempts enabled. However, as Canvas does not support all of Blackboard's grading options, the Quiz Score to Keep setting may not match the option selected in Blackboard. Canvas provides three options for the Quiz Score to Keep:
- Highest
- Latest
- Average
If the option for recording the First or Lowest score was enabled in the Blackboard assessment, Canvas does not have an equivalent setting. If this option was selected in the Blackboard assessment, an error will be logged in the Migration Log as in the following example:
Description: [Quiz Name] contains an unsupported setting Multiple Attempts (first/lowest) and did not migrate
Source: [insert source page that caused the error]
Target: [Canvas URL]
Canvas does not have an equivalent setting. If this option was selected in the Blackboard assessment, an error will be logged in the Migration Log as in the following example:
Description: [Quiz Name] contains an unsupported setting Force Completion (one sitting) and did not migrate
Source: [insert source page that caused the error]
Target: [Canvas URL]"
Recommendation: Enable a Time Limit.
If you would like to ensure a test is automatically submitted, consider using the Time Limit option. A timed quiz in progress will be automatically submitted when the time runs out or at the Until date specified for the quiz, whichever comes first.
The Time Limit feature corresponds to Blackboard's Set Timer feature. However, there is no option to turn OFF auto-submission for Canvas's Time Limit. A timed quiz in progress will be automatically submitted when the time runs out or at the Until date specified for the quiz, whichever comes first.
- Due corresponds to the Due Date set for the assessment in Blackboard.
- If a Display After date was entered for your Blackboard assessment, it will display in the Available from field in Canvas.
- If an Until date was entered for your Blackboard assessment, it will display in the Until field in Canvas.
Whenever you reuse an assessment from a previous course, you need to review and adjust the availability dates and times for the upcoming course. Follow the steps in How do I make a quiz available before or after the due date? (opens new window) to adjust the Available from, and Until dates.
If an assessment Password was enabled in Blackboard, the equivalent Require an access code option will be enabled in the migrated Canvas quiz.
You may use the Moderate Quiz and Assign to features in Canvas Quizzes to override the time limits and availability dates on quizzes for specific students. For steps, see How do I give specific students different time or date settings on a quiz or assignment?
All quizzes, except for Practice Quizzes and Ungraded Surveys, appear on the Canvas Grades page. For more information, see What quiz types can I create in a course? (opens new window).
To exclude a quiz's grade from the course grade calculation, see the recommendations below.
Recommendation 1: Use an assignment group with 0% weight.
You can create an assignment group in Assignments with a weight of 0% of the total grade, and add the quiz to that assignment group.
Follow the steps in How do I add an assignment group in a course? (opens new window) to set up the assignment group, then while editing the quiz's settings, categorize it into the assignment group as described in What options can I set in a quiz? (opens new window) under Choose Quiz Details.
Note: If you are not using other assignment groups as weighted categories, you will want to create a second assignment group worth 100% of the total grade where you add assignments, quizzes, and discussions to be included in the course grade calculation.
Recommendation 2: Use New Quizzes.
With New Quizzes, you can follow the steps in How do I exclude an assignment from the course's final grades? (opens new window).
There is no option to exclude graded quizzes from the Canvas Grades page. For more information, see What quiz types can I create in a course? (opens new window).
Recommendation: Filter the display of your Gradebook to hide quizzes.
Follow the steps to manage new features for a course (opens new window) and enable Enhanced Gradebook Filters. Then, create custom filters (opens new window) to hide a quiz while viewing the Gradebook.
When Show test results and feedback to students was selected in Blackboard, most of the related options will translate to Canvas.
- Let Students See Their Quiz Responses will be selected if Show responses was enabled in Blackboard.
- Let Students See The Correct Answers will be selected if the Correct box was enabled in Blackboard.
- Show Correct Answers at will populate with the date specified in Blackboard for On Specific Date.
Below is a table listing how the feedback timing options from Blackboard correlate to Canvas.
| Blackboard Setting Value | Canvas Setting Value |
|---|---|
| After Submission | Let Students See the Correct Answers (no dates entered) |
| One-time View | Only Once After Each Attempt |
| On Specific Date | Let Students See the Correct Answers, Show Correct Answers at |
| After Due Date | Let Students See the Correct Answers, Show Correct Answers at |
| After Availability End Date | Let Students See the Correct Answers, Show Correct Answers at |
| After Attempts are Graded | There is no equivalent. Choose to manually display grades after grading is complete. |
If the Blackboard setting is After Attempts are graded, an error will be logged to the Migration Exception Log as in the following example:
Description: [Quiz Name] contains an unsupported setting for "Test Results and Feedback to Students = After Attempts are Graded" and did not migrate.
Source: [Blackboard URL]
Target: [Canvas URL]
IMPORTANT: In Canvas’s Classic Quizzes, there is an option to schedule when correct answers will be displayed. However, any feedback entered for a question will be visible to students after they submit their work. In New Quizzes, there is an option to manually display items, questions, and feedback.
Recommendation 1: Restrict student view of their responses and feedback.
To ensure students do not see feedback until you are ready to release it, be sure to restrict student view of their responses and feedback.
In Classic Quizzes, uncheck the Let Students See Their Quiz Responses checkbox. For more information, see What options can I set in a quiz? (opens new window).
In New Quizzes, select the Restrict student result view toggle in the Settings tab for the quiz. For more information, see How do I restrict students from viewing quiz results in New Quizzes? (opens new window).
Recommendation 2: Consider using New Quizzes
There are several differences in how types of feedback can be released to students between Canvas’s Classic Quizzes and Canvas’s New Quizzes.
- Canvas’s Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes display both question scores and total scores at the same time. New Quizzes can display total scores by themselves, but not question scores.
- Canvas’s Classic Quizzes will only display selection-level feedback to students alongside their responses and correctness for each question.
- Grader’s comments cannot be permanently hidden from students in Canvas’s Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes. Once a student’s grade is released, any assignment comments from the grader are released to the student.
For more information about selectively releasing feedback in New Quizzes, see How do I restrict students from viewing quiz results in New Quizzes? (opens new window).
Recommendation 3: Leave individualized feedback using SpeedGrader
Individualized feedback can be provided using SpeedGrader. See How do I grade quiz questions in SpeedGrader? (opens new window).
- Show one question at a time corresponds to the One at a Time setting in Blackboard if checked
- Lock questions after answering should be checked if Prohibit Backtracking was selected in Blackboard
Canvas's Classic Quizzes has limited options for randomization.
If you would like to randomize the questions in your assessment, Canvas uses Question Groups in conjunction with Question Banks to accomplish this activity. Learn more about how to create a quiz with question groups in order to randomize quiz questions (opens new window).
When authoring Multiple Choice questions, Blackboard's Tests and Surveys provide an option to randomize answers for students when they view a particular question.
Canvas’s Classic Quizzes supports answer randomization for the entire assessment, not by individual question.
Recommendation: Shuffle answer choices by question in New Quizzes.
In Canvas’s New Quizzes, you can shuffle answer choices by question. For more information, see How do I create a Multiple Choice question in New Quizzes? (opens new window).
Canvas does not provide the option to specify points for partial credit. If added in Blackboard, an error will be logged to the Migration Exception Log.
Recommendation: Consider using New Quizzes.
Some questions in New Quizzes provide the option to assign partial credit. Types of questions that support partial credit include:
- Fill in multiple blanks - How do I create a Fill-in-Multiple-Blanks quiz question? (opens new window)
- Multiple answers - How do I create a Multiple Answers quiz question? (opens new window)
- Multiple drop downs - How do I create a Multiple Dropdown quiz question? (opens new window)
- Matching - How do I create a Matching quiz question? (opens new window)
- Essay - How do I create an Essay quiz question? (opens new window)
- File - How do I create a File Upload quiz question? (opens new window)
For more information on migrating a classic quiz to a new quiz, refer to How do I migrate a Canvas quiz to New Quizzes? (opens new window).
Canvas does not provide the option to specify negative points. If added in Blackboard, an error will be logged to the Migration Exception Log.
Recommendation: Use Speedgrader to adjust points.
For information on using "Fudge Points" to adjust the grades on a quiz, refer to How do I adjust the point value for an entire quiz (opens new window).
Canvas does not provide the option to assign questions as extra credit as a setting. If added in Blackboard, an error will be logged to the Migration Exception Log.
Recommendation: Employ workaround recommended by Canvas.
For information on different options recommended by Canvas, refer to How do I give extra credit in a course? (opens new window).
Canvas does not provide options to associated metadata with questions. If used in Blackboard, an error will be logged to the to the Migration Exception Log. If you used this functionality in Blackboard and would like to explore additional options, please contact the Learning Technology Services (LTS) Team to request assistance.
Canvas does not provide options to associate categories and keywords with questions. If added in Blackboard, an error will be logged to the to the Migration Exception Log. If you used this functionality in Blackboard and would like to explore additional options, please contact the Learning Technology Services (LTS) Team to request assistance.
Canvas does not provide options to associate instructor notes with questions. If added in Blackboard, an error will be logged to the Migration Exception Log. If you used this functionality in Blackboard and would like to explore additional options, please contact the Learning Technology Services (LTS) Team to request assistance.
Return to the Checklist
Go back to the Checklist for Reusing Content from Blackboard to continue evaluating your content.